Missouri Defensive Lineman Michael Sam Comes Out as Gay

With those words, a 24-year-old University of Missouri graduate put himself on the forefront of a very visible—and very small—battlefield: the struggle for acceptance of gay athletes in professional sports. Sam, a defensive lineman, is expected to be an early round pick in May’s NFL draft. If he is selected, he’ll be the first openly gay working athlete in the league—or in any of America’s top spectator sports, including baseball, basketball, and hockey. (Last year Jason Collins, a free agent NBA player, came out of the closet, but he has not been signed to a team since.)

“Is this a huge deal?” he asked in a video interview with The New York Times. “I understand that it is, but my purpose and focus right now is playing football.”

Sam said he came out to his team this previous August, and that in response “they rallied around” him and supported him. “I knew in that moment that this could happen anywhere,” he explained. “If my team could support me, any team could support me.”

That’s a controversial statement—many pro football players, including New Orleans Saint Jonathan Vilma last month, have expressed that their teams are not prepared to accept a gay member. And indeed, when scouts from major teams began looking at Sam last year, his agent was asked by several whether the player had a girlfriend or had been seen with women.

Still, Sam is optimistic. He said coming out to his family and team was an “awesome” experience, and that he did so because he wanted to manage the narrative.

“I’m coming out because I want to own my truth,” he said. “I’m comfortable with who I am, and I didn’t want anyone to break a story without me telling it.”

“I probably may be the first,” he told the Times. “But I won’t be the last.”